TIFF 2019: Harriet Editor Wyatt Smith on Capturing a True American Hero
Based on the iconic life of freedom fighter Harriet Tubman, Kasi Lemmons’ Harriet reveals the story of this American legend’s escape from slavery and her incredible courage after in her quest to free other slaves. Starring a phenomenal Cynthia Erivo in the title role, Harriet looks at a 10-year chapter in Tubman’s extraordinary life and is structured ...
TIFF 2019: Getting Weird With Synchronic‘s Director Aaron Moorhead and Star Ally Ioannides
Anthony Mackie (Avengers: Endgame) and Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades of Gray) are well known for playing superheroes and super seducers, respectively. For Aaron Moorhead and Justin Aaron Moorehead’s trippy, gripping new drama Synchronic, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, the two stars went a decidedly different direction. Mackie and Dornan play a ...
TIFF 2019: Tammy’s Always Dying Director Amy Jo Johnson on her Bittersweet Mother/Daughter Drama
Director Amy Jo Johnson‘s second feature film manages to coax humor from situations that are not terribly funny. Terminal alcoholism, cancer, and feelings of loneliness, isolation, and insecurity are not usually the ingredients for laughs, but Johnson and her stellar cast turn these devastating pieces into a bittersweet whole. Johnson, a former actress (Felicity, Flashpoint), has ...
TIFF 2019: Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite Gets Under Your Skin
There are no gentle super pigs (Okja), jellied roach bars (Snowpiercer), or colossal monsters (The Host), yet writer/director Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite manages to shock and surprise aplenty. There are dastardly deeds, masterful performances, and diabolical twists. The film reminds you that there is a very, very good reason this South Korean auteur is considered one of the ...
TIFF 2019: The Mad Genius of The Lighthouse
Mythic, surprisingly funny, and gleefully mad, Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse does for the craggy, wind-blasted island what his first feature, The Witch, did for the New England woods. Man is menaced and made small by nature but is also revealed to be as monstrous and volatile as nature itself. Featuring two go-for-broke performances by Willem Dafoe and ...
